Toronto & GTA

Vibrant and Diverse Urban Centre

University of Toronto students have the advantage of living and studying within one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse urban centres. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) features a community for every pursuit – from professional sports to publishing; a bustling theatre scene to a leading fashion design industry; LGBTQ pride to innovative medical research; and much more. Cosmopolitan gems like Chinatown, Little Italy, the Annex and Kensington Market blend in with the natural beauty of Toronto Island, the Scarborough Bluffs and Mississauga’s Greenbelt. Commonly identified as one of the world’s “most liveable cities,” Toronto recently ranked as one of the world’s “best places to live” in a report by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The University of Toronto is tightly integrated in this setting – both physically, with its three campuses spanning the GTA – and culturally and intellectually through its students, faculty, staff and alumni, who are deeply involved in the city’s multitude of communities and endeavors.

History of “Firsts”

As the city’s innovation hub, the University of Toronto has long been a catalyst for progress and change – with a lengthy history of “firsts.” Among the University’s medical graduates are the first black doctor in Canada, the first Aboriginal Canadian to earn a university degree and the country’s first female physician. It was here that Banting and Best discovered insulin; astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg led pioneering research on our galaxy; Northrop Frye shaped the discipline of literary criticism; Ted Rogers launched the world’s first battery-less broadcasting station; and physicist Eli Franklin Burton built North America’s first electron microscope. Group of Seven artists, four Canadian Prime Ministers and five Nobel Prize winners flourished at the University of Toronto. Big thinkers like novelist Margaret Atwood and media theorist Marshall McLuhan began transforming the conversation in a variety of fields.

Transforming the Conversation

It’s not all history. The GTA, and the University of Toronto in particular, are today’s meeting-places for great minds, attracting international thinkers and breaking barriers locally and abroad. Alumni like former Lieutenant Governor David Onley and visually impaired medical biophysicist Mahadeo Sukhai are changing our understanding of physical disabilities. OISE professor Suzanne Stewart is redefining the approach to Aboriginal homelessness. Malcolm Gladwell, David Cronenberg, Naomi Klein, Atom Egoyan, Craig Kielburger and countless other University of Toronto grads are transforming the way we interact with and understand the world.

The Place to Be

The University of Toronto is the right place at the right time – and it’s not by coincidence. The University builds on the GTA’s diversity and dynamism, providing students with unparalleled and accessible options. We work hard to foster an equitable and inclusive community, based on mutual respect and dignity, because we know excellence thrives in an environment that embraces the broadest range of people and helps them achieve their full potential. If you’re smart and keen to learn and build, the University of Toronto is the place for you.